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Fast Food advertising WATERSHED

Boris Johnson is planning to ban fast food advertising before 9pm on TV. What are your thoughts? (July 2020)

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HD
HybridDaDink
Boris Johnson wants to ban fast food advertising before 9pm because it is encoraging children to eat unhealty food. Scientists have explained that if this happens then kids would only lose around 2-3 calories per day. But some of the fast food companies are worried about this since they have already lost enough money due to the coronavirus pandemic.
JO
Jonwo
The pre watershed ban on junk food isn't a new thing, previous government and others have tried before to implement it but it never quite gets off the ground.
HD
HybridDaDink
Jonwo posted:
The pre watershed ban on junk food isn't a new thing, previous government and others have tried before to implement it but it never quite gets off the ground.

There have been petitions and complaints about banning it before but nothing ever really happened but I think they are trying to make it the last straw this time. I see McDonalds dodge this by only advertising fruit and wraps in their Happy Meal adverts.
JA
JAS84
If they want to combat obesity, they should be focusing on exercise, not diet. This is the wrong way to do it.
BA
bilky asko
JAS84 posted:
If they want to combat obesity, they should be focusing on exercise, not diet. This is the wrong way to do it.

You can't outrun a bad diet.
BR
Brekkie
Will be very damaging for television - won't make a blind bit of difference to obesity.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
Boris Johnson wants to ban fast food advertising before 9pm because it is encoraging children to eat unhealty food. Scientists have explained that if this happens then kids would only lose around 2-3 calories per day. But some of the fast food companies are worried about this since they have already lost enough money due to the coronavirus pandemic.


McDonalds is actually better placed to weather storms like this because the majority of stores are franchise operations - in other words you stump up a fortune to "buy" the rights to use the name, the equipment, the methods, the business model - and you run the restaurant like any other business to maximise turnover and profitability - you have to pay the parent company back out of the net sales. If the operation falls flat on its arse, that's your fault and your responsibility (and ultimately the loss of your money). I believe KFC works the same way too.

Anyway all that aside, its common knowledge that fast food isn't particularly good for you, even if it is really nice sometimes (not McDonalds though, since they took the bulk of the salt out most of it's now got no flavour whatsoever, and I dare say you'd get more nutrition from eating the packaging). But from a TV point of view? Considering a large chunk of kids have TVs in their bedroom (albeit probably connected up to a console) I can't see restricting this to after 9pm making one jot of difference. It would be far more beneficial just to ban unaccompanied children from these places altogether - if they're in with their parents that's their choice of course to bring them in - but otherwise?

I do think it will take far more than kicking McDonalds adverts off Nickelodeon to change obesity in this country, but of course a lot of schools were forced to sell off their playing fields in the first place so this may be more of a case of we are reaping what we've sowed.
AN
Andrew Founding member
Boris Johnson wants to ban fast food advertising before 9pm because it is encoraging children to eat unhealty food. Scientists have explained that if this happens then kids would only lose around 2-3 calories per day. But some of the fast food companies are worried about this since they have already lost enough money due to the coronavirus pandemic.


I can’t see any mention about it being anything to do with children

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53522492

It seems to be based around obesity and general bad health being linked to coronavirus

As he says this sort of ‘nannying’ as he puts it is a very un-Boris policy, in fact it’s the sort of policy more likely to be associated with the Labour Party. I’m guessing he’s revisiting stuff like this following his own recent hospitalisation.

It’s of course only an idea being floated at this point
JA
JAS84
JAS84 posted:
If they want to combat obesity, they should be focusing on exercise, not diet. This is the wrong way to do it.

You can't outrun a bad diet.

30 years ago, people probably ate just as much as they do now. They just didn't sit on the couch watching Netflix, playing video games, or doing stuff on smartphones. People exercise less than they used to, that's why so many people are overweight. Food isn't the issue. People just aren't burning off the calories like they did in the past. Instead of banning junk food ads, they should run their own ads promoting exercise and outdoor spaces. It wouldn't cost them any more than the Coronavirus related ads they've been airing recently.
AS
Ash101
Problem is, how effective is no “fast food” TV ads pre-9pm going to be?

People know what fast food places are around, yes McDonald’s advertise a lot (do they need to, who doesn’t know who McD is? More a brand exercise I’m sure). The local kebab house or fish & chip shop doesn’t have tv spots.

Like said above, advertising a healthy lifestyle and fitness ads would probably be more beneficial.
Stuart, JetixFann450 and Ghost gave kudos
JB
JasonB
Wasn't this done in 2006 and killed the Saturday morning kids TV format?
HD
HybridDaDink
Wasn't this done in 2006 and killed the Saturday morning kids TV format?

But that was only children's TV. Now the PM wants to ban it from general 'adult' TV altogether.

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